William Weathersbee, 1928-2017: Raines teacher, coach, dean

Wednesday

William Weathersbee, a football coach and long-time dean of boys at Raines High School, died Wednesday, Feb. 15, after a long illness. He was 88.

Mr. Weathersbee was an educator in the Duval County school system for 31 years and owner of a landmark seafood restaurant and bar in American Beach for 23 years.

The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Paul A.M.E. Church, 6910 New Kings Road. Viewing will be at 11 a.m. prior to the service. Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery.

To Terry LeCount, a former Gators quarterback and wide receiver in the NFL, he was Dean Weathersbee, the highly respected "sergeant at arms" who walked the hallways at Raines ensuring that order was maintained.

"You saw him in shirt and tie during the day and then after school, you saw him in a Raines polo shirt and burgundy and gray shorts coaching the defensive players," said LeCount, who quarterbacked the Vikings to the Florida Class 4A state championship game in 1973.

He had a way of talking to students that kept them out of trouble, said LeCount, who now lives in Atlanta.

"If I had any coach as a fan, he was a fan of mine. He liked what I did in track and field," said LeCount, a champion in the 220 and 440-yard dashes.

Deborah Norman, who worked with Mr. Weathersbee when she was a guidance counselor at Raines, said students knew the rules and knew there would be repercussions if they didn’t obey them. "There was never any drama," she said. "There didn’t have to be. They respected him to the point that they would obey him."

Though he was laid back, Norman fondly recalled that he would offer unsolicited advice. He would walk by her and say, "Deborah Norman, you don’t have to catch every sale," or "Deborah Norman, don’t ever challenge the IRS," or "Deborah Norman, you have to stay within your means."

"It was so funny because you didn’t think this would come from him, but he was very wise," she said.

Mr. Weathersbee was born in Jacksonville in 1928. His daughter, Tonyaa Weathersbee, said her father always loved sports so going into that field was a natural for him.

After graduating from Old Stanton High School, he attended Tillotson College in Austin, Tex., on a football scholarship and received a degree in physical education in 1951. In 1956, he earned a master’s degree in education from Teachers College at Columbia University in New York.

Mr. Weathersbee began his career teaching physical education at Isaiah Blocker Junior High School. He left to coach football and teach physical education at Northwestern Junior-Senior High School from 1956 to 1965.

He joined the faculty of Raines when it opened in 1965 and taught physical education and was an assistant football coach. In 1969, he was promoted to dean of boys but still coached. He retired in 1983.

Through the years, Weathersbee said her father shaped the lives of numerous students and inspired younger educators.

"I think my father was not just a father to me but a father to the community," she said, describing him as tough but fair. "He wielded a good influence on many of the people he coached."

Weathersbee, a former Times-Union columnist who is now a columnist for the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, said she’s heard from many of his students who’ve said they wouldn’t have grown up to be the people they are if not for his "tough love."

In 1980, Mr. Weathersbee bought Evans’ Rendezvous, an African-American club that was once the social gathering spot in Nassau County’s American Beach. He renamed it Ocean Rendezvous and operated it during the summer until its closing in 2003.

Mr. Weathersbee was a member of Second Missionary Baptist Church. In later years, he attended Saint Paul A.M.E. Church.

In addition to his daughter Tonyaa, survivors include his wife of 58 years, Wallace Zanders Weathersbee; a sister, Dorothy Weathersbee Mangram; and a daughter, Avis Weathersbee, Jacksonville.

Sandy Strickland: (904) 359-4128

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